Path of Exile: 5 Best League Starters for 3.19

Lake of Kalandra is upon us, and the hunt for the best league start for 3.19 has begun.

With a mountain of nerfs to popular builds like Seismic trapper and Skeleton mages, the size of league starters has diminished compared to 3.18.

Still, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll list the top 5 league starters for 3.19 that focus on uber boss kills and map clearing ability.

Let’s get to it.

1. Lightning Strike (Champion/Raider)

Lightning Strike has dominated for a few leagues now as being a good mix of defense and offense. With just 1 unique requirement – Perseverance.

The build does it all – Uber pinnacle bosses, speedy map clear, heist, delve, ritual, delirium, expedition, and more.

As a flexible starting choice, players can choose either the Champion(duelist) or Raider(ranger). The Champion has a more defensive setup from an early game while the Raider receives the quality of life via spell suppression, elemental damage avoidance, and permanent phasing.

Of the two builds, Champion ends up becoming the true tank by endgame, able to demolish uber bosses with relative ease.

The biggest drawback of the Lightning Strike build is the leveling-up process. Players are stuck choosing Spectral Helix until they can respec claws and Lightning strike around yellow maps.

Spectral Helix is a replica of the Hammerdin from Diablo. On activation, a bunch of weapons revolves around and this type of gameplay can feel clunky depending on your playstyle. Alternatively, you can also level with Shattering Steel but the damage output falls around Act 7.

A full in-depth video guide is provided by Crouching Tuna on YouTube below. A written guide can be accessed on Maxroll.

2. Bane (Occultist)

Luckily, in the long list of nerfs, it seems poison builds have received a rain check by GGG.

And what better way to use this free pass than to play a popular poison build – Bane. Utilizing one of the best ascendency nodes – Profane Bloom from the Occultist ascendency, enjoy monsters popping into purple balls of smoke.

The map clear on this build is ridiculous with Bane simply deleting mobs. When it comes to bosses, Wither stacks and Essence Drain act as a vicious combo.

The build is a joy to level with and the only drawback is that uber bosses take a while to kill until you gain endgame gear.

Most of the gearing process is straightforward and it’s plug and play. There’s no unique requirement and the build can be put together with leveling rares.

Once you taste the power of Profane Bloom, it’s hard not to league start an Occultist every time.

Here’s a video of Subtractem explaining how to set up your Bane build.

3. Explosive Arrow Ballista (Elementalist)

Sure we don’t have minions to do our bidding due to the nerfs, but totems are kinda like standing minions, you’d reckon?

The popular Explosive Arrow Ballista has taken a hit in the single target section. However, the damage doesn’t stop this steamroller due to its insane ability to proliferate and wipe screens of mobs in seconds.

The damage loss to bosses isn’t significant and the build still serves as a boss-killing build.

While the totem leveling style isn’t for everyone, it’s a safer approach to clearing new content that a beginner is unfamiliar with.

The rotation is simple – put down your totems, stand behind them and watch mobs fall to their fiery death.

The Elementalist is a master of ‘Area of Effect’, and damage boost, making it a clear winner for EA Ballista. Bastion of Elements is a huge QoL as elemental damage can’t be reflected, making your ballistas stay put while dealing copious amounts of damage. EA Ballista is easily the top choice for the best league starters of 3.19 with its dual boss killing ability and map clearing elements.

Palsteron explains how to build your own Elementalist EA Ballista in this video.

4. Absolution (Necromancer)

With 3.19, most of the minion power has moved from natural sources like gems and Unnatural Strength to gear. While it’s great for the longevity of the game that minion builds need to spec into gear to receive their power, it’s bad for passive minion gameplay.

You’re probably wondering if we put this by mistake considering Necromancer is being avoided like the plague in 3.19. Luckily, Absolution is the closest to a minion build that you can league start without feeling the effects of the minion nerf.

Absolution is a skill where sentinels spawn based on killing non-unique mobs. If you hit a rare or unique enemy, you have a 25% chance to summon a sentinel.

The idea is to ensure you kill white mobs to spawn sentinels or hit rares and uniques to spawn them. As long as you have an army of sentinels, mobs and bosses will melt. The drawback is when you don’t have sentinels, that you’ll start to power down.

The build is extremely tanky as minion builds rarely require investment in damage nodes, unlike other builds. Leaving you with plenty of skill points to invest in defensive options.

 GhazzyTV shows you how to get started with your own army of sentinels in the video guide below.

5. Righteous Fire (Inquisitor)

RF Inquisitor was one of the most played builds in 3.18 and while it took a big hit with the Melding of the Flesh nerf and overall, lesser mana reservation efficiency. It’s still a prime league starter.

What makes RF such a sought-after build is its play style. It’s a walking simulator that melts mobs with a left click. The only time you make an effort to press a button is when you take on bosses.

RF is the perfect beginner-friendly build that lets new players enjoy end-game content without too much work put into it. Without doubt, it’s also among the best league starters for 3.19.

The big question – can RF defeat pinnacle bosses in this league? It can, but you’ll probably require endgame investment to push towards pinnacle bosses.

On the bright side, the map clearing potential is barely affected and the huge ring of fire is more than enough to take care of you all the way to red maps.

Here’s Pohx talking about RF Inquisitor and how to set yours up in the following video.

The Best League Starters for 3.19 – Final Verdict

The one I’ll be starting with and my pick of the 5 would be the Lightning Strike Champion. The choice was based on having utmost defense and no quarters given to the enemy as far as offense is concerned.

With that said, every one of these league starters functions differently and is perfect as a melee, spellcaster, minion, or simply walking up to mobs and watching them die.

Which of these league starters are you going with or if you have your own, do share them in the comments as we’d love to hear them.